A public inquiry into a controversial waste strategy which includes the provision of incinerators in Mid Cheshire opens on Tuesday.

Government inspector Andrew Mead will examine Cheshire's Draft Replacement Waste Local Plan which council chiefs say includes a range of facilities capable of managing the county's rubbish in a sustainable manner.

And he will hear evidence on behalf of 3,500 individuals and organisations which have objected during two years of public consultations.

The Plan identifies 31 potential development sites - mostly industrial - across the county to help manage the 2.5m tonnes of waste produced in Cheshire each year.

Among them are sites in Northwich (potentially for an thermal treatment plant - or incinerator - and a materials recycling facility), Middlewich (thermal treatment plant and a landfill site), Winsford (two household waste recycling centres and a potential site for thermal treatment) and Oakmere (for a waste transfer station), many of which have received strong opposition.

The inquiry, at Chester Race-course, is scheduled to last until November 1.

Cty Cllr Andrew Needham said: 'Cheshire generates 2.5m tonnes of waste each year and landfill space is at a premium. Unless we find alternative methods of treatment and en-sure maximum value from waste before disposal, we will face a very real threat to our quality of life.

'The inquiry will provide the opportunity both for the inspector to examine our proposals and also address public concerns around the plan.'

He added: 'Burning waste is not something we want to do because it will be expensive and unpopular. But we have got to do it because the county could be looking at £10m a year in fines if it does not meet landfill targets.'

But Cheshire Anti-Incineration Network (CHAIN) chair-man Brian Cartwright said: 'CHAIN will be present at all of the public inquiry and will be submitting a paper against incineration, demonstrating that an incinerator isn't necessary when you do the sums prop-erly.

'There's a waste composting and recycling centre which is going to be built on Griffiths Road, Rudheath, and that will deal with 150,000 tonnes of material per year. When you take the figures from this plant and go back to Cheshire's Waste Plan, it makes a very strong case for incineration not being required.

'Also, if you build at any of the sites in Cheshire then the traffic chaos will be unbelievable with an increase in road movements of 300-500 vehicles a day. And no one really likes to live next door to an incinerator, so house prices will fall.

'The Government itself is openly admitting that we don't recycle enough and is trying to persuade people to do more, but maximum recycling and incinerators are not compatible - you can have one or the other, but not both.'

He added: 'We believe public opinion in Cheshire is not for incinerators. We've got 4,000 signatures against an incinerator, the county council has had 15,000 objections to the plan, while out of the seven MPs for Cheshire, four are against an incinerator. The other three support it because they are toeing the party line.'

Landfill is also an issue > > >

Landfill is also an issue

PLANS for incineration in Middlewich have also been resisted, though proposals for a landfill development at Kinderton Lodge overshadowed the issue in many quarters.

The county has earmarked a 22-hectare site between the Trent and Mersey Canal and Cledford Lane as suitable for a thermal treat-ment plant, mechanical and biological treat-ment (MBT) centre, and an in-vessel composting development and anaerobic digestion plant.

Town and borough councillor Mike Parsons said: 'These aren't the kind of incinerators we are used to thinking of, but there is some burning of non-degradable waste. It's an improvement on what it could be, and we said we would support it over a full incinerator, but the level of burning involved is still more than I'd be happy to see in Middlewich.'

Town councillor Chalky White added: 'These thermal treatment centres are not the incinerators of 15-20 years ago. They are much cleaner with far less burning.

'In Middlewich we are also threatened with a landfill site that nobody wants, and I have to say that if offered a straight choice between a landfill and thermal treatment, the latter would win every time.'

The landfill proposal is subject to a separate public inquiry in November.

Warning to councillors

THE man behind Vale Royal's highly successful recycling scheme is confident there won't be an incinerator built in Winsford.

Vale Royal Borough Council's deputy leader Malcolm Gaskill spoke out ahead of a public inquiry into Cheshire County Council's Draft Replacement Waste Local Plan, which identifies Winsford Industrial Estate as a possible site for an incinerator.

But Cllr Gaskill, the lead councillor for waste management, said: 'Why is Cheshire County Council pushing so hard for an incinerator? It is something that's going to be unnecessary in the long term as the amount we throw away goes down and the amount recycled goes up.

'You take any bin in Vale Royal, 80% of what's in there will be recyclable.

'You have to look long and hard at the county councillors pushing for this. Two of them told me there would be an incinerator for Cheshire with such ferocity that it frightened me. But the people of Cheshire will not have an incinerator, and woe betide any councillor who votes for it, as they will be out on their ears when the next election comes.'

And he vowed: 'There will not be an incinerator in Winsford. More than 90% of the business income generated across Vale Royal is generated in Winsford so councillors would be cutting their own throats.'